I’ve come to realise building a brand is little bit like salvation: you have to die everyday. Every week there’s a new thing to think about or consider or build and just when you think you’ve thought of it all, something else comes along to laugh in your face.
All that to say, I started building the website today. The site is probably the thing I’ve cared least about until now, but it’s quickly required the most of my attention.
Why? Because it’s quite literally ALL in the details. Our user experience, our brand identity, our engagement with our community. It all starts more or less right here.
Now I know what you’re thinking - what about social media? Well I’m of the opinion that unlike social media, your website will outlive a trending app or whatever fad of the week comes next.
Yes! Our Instagram tells the story of us, but that’s all it really does - storytelling. I’m no way trying to diminish this, I mean hello?! I work in social media and I’m an avid consumer for this very reason. I just mean, that it’s the story that draws people in. The product is what gets them to stay.
Having worked so hard on the social media aspect, I feel proud to be able to place what I’ve made on the website. It’s brought people in to the brand and kept them there in a way that feels communal! But, honestly… I’m really ready to give people the opportunity to really engage with our story.
Anyways… it’s a pretty big deal and I’m finally getting around to it.
I started out playing with storefronts and shop sites back in July and August, when the impending doom of a deadline and the stress of a busy schedule hadn’t reached me yet.
My first site was actually through ReadyMag and I found the link: https://readymag.website/u820439909/5705516/
Not too shabby right?! What I loved about ReadyMag was how user-friendly it was. Easy to customise, plenty of unique templates. It was a great place to lay the ground work. I also played around on Canva for a proper mock up, but even then, I hadn’t made much headway. What I finally settled on was Shopify. It had the three C’s I was looking for:
- Cost effective & all inclusive
- Cydneii-understandble (meaning I could actually play around with it)
- Cute to the eye
All I knew was Shopify was home base and hopefully the rest would come? Fast forward to today, the reality of actually building the site is a lot ore daunting. The first Shopify mockup I did never actually saw the light of day, despite the amount of time I put into it.
I guess that’s been the beauty of the whole dissertation turned creative project thing: it’s forcing me to build out loud AND on a deadline.
The other beauty? God’s kindness - particularly through friends. Te’lyah has been such a gem at helping me out with all the menial tasks behind building the site. One of the biggest parts of this was platform research and development - basically finding the right home for the products and world we’ve created! Having another pair of eyes and, perhaps, another algorithm has helped tremendously in variation and understanding consumer thought patterns.
Also having friends that
- Aren’t sick of me parroting on about “Akellomolo, Akellomolo, Akellomolo” for the last eight or nine months and
- Push me to be better
They’ve emboldened me to do random market research, to wear the designs out as much as possible, and offered me different eyes, insights, and thoughts that make me dare to dream even bigger. All that to say, the people in my corner have been a blessing I simply had to mention in this.
I now very much realise the beauty of delegation and have been thankful to have the opportunity to have her and all my friends and family’s help with all of this.
Gosh, is this… adulting??? Worse/better yet, entrepreneurship???!
Yeah that’s all for tonight, I think. Gonna have some ice cream and watch a film with my stuffy now.
1 Corinthians 3:7
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Website updateee! SO it’s the final week and I actually cannot express how excited I am to be done with all of this. While I’ve enjoyed the chance to really work on all of the aspects of the brand, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t demanding.
This week has felt especially tense as the deadline looms large and the desire for first class honours clouds my thoughts.
- Cry count: 5
- Praise count: 8
- Dance break count: 4
- Food break: 2 (My friend is getting me some food as I write this - hallelujah)
Been looking like little Cydneii all week
All that being said, the website (for better or worse) is finally… DONE. I’ve spent everyday of the last week combing through every page, detail, and piece of research I have in hopes that I have a genuine understanding of what’s going on come Friday. Am I 100% certain? No. But I’ve accepted that at this stage, that may be the whole point.
Today’s focus was mostly on the back end - setting up the payment portals, ensuring the markets are available and running, finalising pricing and shipping costs, and double checking how the site will look and feel to customers. Later today and probably tomorrow, I’ll be giving my friends the opportunity to look through and nitpick for about an hour. Then I’ll take an hour and apply their feedback. I’m hoping there’s not much they’ll have to say outside of glowing reviews and excited reports, but I’m bracing myself for that hour to be filled with some kind of maintenance work.
Despite that, I’m genuinely elated. I’ve prayed over this so much over the last few months (almost a year), and all I can really hope for is that God has His way. I pray customers come. I pray my aunt’s designs get platformed and shared with the world. I pray I pass with flying colours. I pray that this isn’t the end, but rather, a beginning.
The pending bits left to do are integrating Paystack with Shopify for part of our African market to be able to pay seamlessly. Also checking the stock information’s accuracy and general standing.
(Update: Paystack will unfortunately still be pending by the time of launch but payment methods for United States, United Kingdom, and Kenya are all available and working!!)
Outside of that, I can hear the birds chirping and the humidity drawing me toward the sunny day. And just like that, my undergraduate career is over.
Proverbs 3:9
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